


Another Home

by Indulgenceahoy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Children, Gen, OC, Pre-Game Events, backstory exploration, monsters in human world, violence mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-31 02:31:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10889832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indulgenceahoy/pseuds/Indulgenceahoy
Summary: The War among human and monsters has ended, but the scars it left still live on.





	Another Home

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Lycerialilfire

Matt had a secret.

The adults said that the war ended with the banishment of the monsters to the depths of hell.  These same adults had cheered and made merry for several days.

Despite what the adults had said, however, the fighting had continued on.  Former monster territories, settlements and treasure were now up for grabs and, nobody seemed to agree on whom should take possession of them. 

More people lost their lives and, no claw nor horn, had been involved. 

Adults said, this is just a tran-transhi ... “transitional period” (which he later found out that it was to be understood as “to last for a short time”).  Everything would be ok.  True peace would soon reign. A new age of man.

This is how Matt found out that adults lie. 

A lot. 

And it was because of it that Matt had a secret. 

******

At 12, Matt was one of the oldest children in the Orphanage.   Practically an adult himself.  He took a somewhat shaky pride on this fact.  He was the tallest by a whole inch. Could run the fastest by virtue of the other kids avoiding running faster than him. And, when it was dinner he got first choice with desserts (whenever they had some) 

More importantly, he got to decide the rules for the day (as long as the nuns and Ms. Harrington didn’t mind - _find out_ )

Anyone who ever met Matt would not describe him as being “cute”.  Instead, he was “spindly”, “more arms and legs than body”, “carrot head”, “brat”, “never had a true shower”, but never cute.  Nor “unreliable”.

That was the important part.  

If you got a Matt promise, it was a promise you could count on.  He wasn’t an adult quite yet, after all.

And in All Angels Sanctuary Orphanage, Matt promises were the only true currency among the children.  

* * *

Late in the afternoon on the day that Matt got his secret, the only rule for the day had been to not bother him.  He had found a book in the donation box and was practicing his reading on it.  A lot of the words did not make sense but the ones that did were very exciting.   

During free time, while the other kids played in the back fields.  He was sitting in his favorite spot behind a group of trees that grew against the Orphanage’s ivy overgrown fence.   The spot allowed him to keep an eye on the playful commotion in front of him -not that he cared or anything- but still be alone with his book.  

This book was not his secret.  In fact, you can be sure that anyone who lived or worked there would be glad to see his hands and mind, concentrating on other than sticks and mayhem.  

They wouldn’t have been as glad to see the pile of stolen apples next to him, but what they didn’t know would not make them unhappy.  

The sound of a carriage and its horses going by the road next to the fence, called his attention.  Visitors were rare at that place.  Not many grown ups were keen on adopting when the war (that officially ended 5 years ago) was still going on, So a carriage usually meant more orphans.  And less food.  And more crying at night. 

Matt sighed and parted some of the ivy so he could take a good look.  The carriage looked exactly like the one he had traveled in when he was first brought to this place.  Maybe the newcomers would be interesting.  

The carriage rattled a bit and out of one of the covered windows a small head covered with a hood poked out for just a second, before being pulled back in.

Matt could’ve sworn he heard giggling and a female voice talking. 

The child tilted his head in curiosity.  He could’ve sworn that the kid poking his head out did not have a nose. 

Not that it was all that uncommon for the Orphanage to take in kids that had lost a limb ... or two... during the war. Still, missing a nose was pretty curious.  Enough to make him lose interest in his book for the time being and make him leave his hideout.  

He ran into the main building and up the stairs to the third floor.  Expertly avoiding the nuns during his travel.   This floor was mostly used for storage and wasn’t in the best of conditions.   Slinking around boxes and old furniture, he made his way to a window high above the main courtyard.   From here he knew he could get a great view without getting spotted.  

As he perched himself into his spot, he saw the carriage turn the corner and then continue on beyond the courtyard towards the left and back of the orphanage.  Matt groaned in disappointment and confusion.  What was going on? The only thing back there was even more old building and overgrowth.

He decided to wait for a bit and soon he saw the carriage make its way back to the Courtyard.  This time, it did stop there and allowed a single passenger out.  Ms. Harrington herself.  

At 40, she looked far older than she was.  Her stoic face was lined with the worries and suffering of someone who had survived a lot.  She wasn’t mean, but she looked and sounded  _mean._ And to a kid, sometimes that’s enough. In all his years of living there, Matt couldn’t say that he had heard her raise her voice, not even when he had been sent to her office to be dealt with.   Her demeanor was always serious and to the point.  Her eyes piercing through you as she assigned you whatever sentence she felt was fair.  

Everybody was afraid of her, but nobody knew _why._

Ms. Harrington talked to the driver briefly and handed him something, then made her way through the Courtyard swiftly as the carriage left.  Matt raised his eyebrows even higher.  There was no way that head he saw poking out was Ms. Harrington’s.  

The dinner bell rang soon after and Matt hurried downstairs before anyone would notice that he wasn’t with the main group of kids.  He needed to do some investigating tonight, and for that he was going to need food in his belly.

******

There are certain places in this world that always give off a creepy feeling.  It doesn’t matter how well lit, or how pretty people make them, its as if they are not totally tethered to this realm of reality.  They are full of shivers down your spine and shadows that make you turn your head.  

The overgrown garden next to the Orphanage was such a place.   Matt remembered being here once before and leaving soon after.  It was not a place that inspired exploration.  The thorny plants, snakes and other wildlife creeping about made sure of that.  

If he had been a little braver back then, however, maybe he would’ve noticed the pair of iron doors through the vines and plants.   Maybe he would’ve realized that their placement hinted at a place under the main building.  Maybe he would’ve explored.   

Maybe, but probably not.  Because back then the vines hadn’t been cleared out just enough to make it easier to open the doors.  Just enough but not completely.  As if somebody had wanted to still keep the doors unapproachable at first sight.  Even second sight.  

Matt maneuvered the little lamp he had snatched from the kitchen to get a better third look at the entrance.   He whistled quietly to himself to calm his shaking knees.  The least brave parts of his body.

He carefully put a listening ear to the crack between the doors.   He couldn’t hear anything beyond the beating of his own heart.  He tested the rusty doorknob and to his own surprise he found it unlocked.  

As quietly as he could manage, he opened one of the doors just enough for him to slip in and close behind him.  

He held the small lamp at arms length, straining his eyes to see as far as he could into the darkness.   A set of of old stairs lead further down and for one second Matt allowed himself to be a grown up and advice himself on not going further.

“You’re going to break your neck” he mused. “This place is probably full of snakes” he predicted.  “You’re gonna get in trouble” he decided.

“Hello?” a voice came from the darkness interrupting his doubt.  

It sounded like a kid’s but it had a resonance that also gave it a rough undertone.

“Uh ....” Matt looked at the door behind him.  Gave it some consideration then proceeded to go down a couple of steps more.  He cleared his throat and said “Hi”  

Whoever had greeted him first said something that he couldn’t make out and then he heard some scrambling.  A faint blueish light came in and out of view from around a corner he wasn’t aware the stairs took.  

Then there was nothing but silence. 

“Uh... hello?”  repeated Matt going down a little further.  

“Who... who are you?” asked the voice again.  It sounded a little further away.  

“Me? ... um ... yeah... I’m Matt ... just ... Matt”

“... ... ... ok ... just matt .... can-can you go away?”

“.... What?” Matt was now just a few steps from the corner “Why?”

No answer but he heard a small whine and a hushing sound came from somewhere.  Matt peeked around the corner and saw that he could see the bottom of the stairs. Then, a little further away a door to a candle lit room.  The light at the bottom of the stairs, however, was blue.  Still no sign of the owner of the voice.

He allowed himself to turn the corner completely and stood there letting his eyes adjust better to the low light.  

“Hellooo?” he said to the apparently empty area.  “Are you a kid?” 

Another whine.  This time it was louder.  It sounded scared.  Whoever had been talking before, started whispering to them.  

Matt gulped and started walking down the stairs.  He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed that there was now someone looking at him from the right side of the bottom of the stairs.  He was looking at him with a luminescent blue eyes.  

“Stop right there” the kid said.  It had to be a kid. He was small.  Smaller than Matt, but he had never seen eyes like that. Except on ...

“Ok... ok... “ said Matt. He even took a step back to show that he didn’t mean harm... and also to get himself closer to the exit. 

A pair of bright orange eyes peeked at him from under and behind the first “kid”.  Matt couldn’t tell if they were crouching down, or if this was an even smaller child.  

They _were_ children, right?

“please go away” muttered the taller kid, ushering the smaller one behind him with one hand.

“Who are you?” It was now Matt’s turn to ask.  They couldn’t possibly be...

“GO away!” yelled the kid.  Matt felt as if someone had put a hand on his chest and pushed him back.  He balanced on one foot and tried to bring his other one around to steady himself, only to slip and fall the rest of the way down the stairs.

He braced himself for the impact with the stone floor but, instead he felt as if someone or something had caught him.   He risked one eye open and looked around.   His body was floating just an inch or even less from the floor.  He screamed in surprise causing whatever was holding him up to release him.  

“What ... what... what?” was all he could manage to mumble as he scrambled to get right side up.

His lamp rolled up to the feet of the mysterious kids illuminating them. Their skeletal faces took any doubt away as to what they were:  Monsters. 


End file.
